Currency is money in circulation and is used in the hand-to-hand settlement of simple transactions without independent reference to the standing of the payer. A currency transaction consists of debiting the payer's on-person cash supply while adding the same amount to the payee's cash supply. Currency, checks, and credit cards are transactional vehicles. Implicit to the success of all transactional vehicles is trust, which requires strong defenses against fraud, and counterfeiting.
Any true money system must be capable of serving as a national, or international, medium of exchange; it must readily circulate; it must have easily recognized values; it must be transferable in a variety of transactions; its value must be difficult to dilute by counterfeiting; and it must have a guarantor.
It is contended that an advanced money would lend itself to automated transactions, handle mixed debit & credit transactions, and keep track of personal accounts in an on-person terminal. Physically, the on-person terminal should easily fit into a pocket and not require manual dexterity or above average intelligence in its use.
This invention incorporates aspects of a universal toll paying system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,904, in that the toll paying uses point-of-sale debiting via-.radio signals, and also credits are inserted within the in-vehicle terminal electronically. The use of a radio medium at the point-of-sale speeds transaction times, making it especially efficient for automated, dynamic, mass applications.